Help From A Friend
by Harlie Davidson
Summary: Noah finally confesses his feelings to Cody. Guess what Cody does? He runs away. A little chat with a friend helps Cody sort things out. NoCo. T for slash! The genres are romance, hurt/comfort, friendship, and a sprinkle of humor.


**LilyKiera6 and I were having a conversation a bit ago when one of the PMs that she sent gave me an idea for a Courtney/Cody friendship moment inside a NoCo romance story. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Cody, can I talk to you?" Noah asked nervously. Cody stopped his conversation with Owen and turned to the taller boy. "It's kind of important."

"Sure, Noah," the tech-geek replied cheerfully, following the bookworm. Cody wondered what could be so important that Noah had to lead him to a different, less populated area of the deathtrap of a plane.

In fact, he was so deep in thought; he hadn't noticed Noah look at Izzy. She gave him a thumbs up and nodded as Noah led him into a decently sized closet somewhere near cockpit.

Chris noticed this and ran to a screen. This screen could see anywhere on the plane by just flipping the channel. He went to the channel showed the closet and stared at the screen curiously.

"Cody," said Noah, taking a deep breath. "I have to tell you something."

_Why is he stalling?_ Cody thought. _Is he nervous? Noah's never nervous. This might be something serious._

Noah paused, trying to think of what to say. Cody was getting really anxious. He was just about to beg Noah to get on with it, when Noah broke the nerve-wrecking silence.

"I like you."

What?" asked Cody, not fully understanding. He liked Noah, too. He was a good friend and person when he wanted to be. "I like you, too, Noah. You're a really good friend. But, is that the only thing you wanted to tell me?"

"No, Cody," Noah said, sounding even more distressed than before. "I _like_ you. In _that_ way."

Cody looked at him, shock clear on his face. Noah bit his lip, waiting for him to start yelling, "Get away from me, you freak!" It never came, though. But, what Cody _did_ do hurt Noah more than anything he could have said. It pained him to watch what he did.

Cody backed up, into the door.

"Cody," Noah said, trying to rush the words out so Cody could hear him before running out. "It's okay if you don't feel the same. I just thought you should-"

The door slammed closed. Noah took a deep breath and sunk to the floor, trying to hold in sobs and stop the tears from streaming out of his eyes.

Cody must have been disgusted by him. Cody must have not liked Noah back. He mentally slapped himself for letting Izzy talk him into telling Cody. He had just ruined their friendship. He had just ruined what they had before. He had just ruined Noah's favorite thing about this show.

He had just ruined it all.

Despite trying to get them out of his mind, those six words kept repeating themselves in Noah's head as a single tear streamed down his face.

…**NoCo…**

Meanwhile, Cody ran. He ran to the other side of the plane to the Confessional Can. He got in and sunk to the floor, groaning on the way down.

_Noah likes me_, he thought, taking it in. _Noah's gay, my best friends, and likes me. Not good._

Noah didn't disgust Cody. He was just shocked. He also didn't want to tell Noah that he didn't return the egghead's feelings. That would hurt him. Cody didn't want to hurt his best friend. And Noah was bound to bring it out sooner or later.

"Maybe if I avoid him," Cody said to himself, completely forgetting the camera. "He'll never ask."

Cody walked out of the bathroom/Confessional and sat down in the commons area. He saw Noah walk out of the closet over to Izzy. At first, the psycho hose beast had a smug smile on her face. It melted off slowly when Noah started talking. Izzy glanced in Cody's direction, meeting his eyes for a second. It was only a second, but Cody saw the disappointment in her eyes. Cody decided not to watch and went back to First Class, where his team was resting.

Once he walked in, Sierra was immediately fussing over him. Hugging him, following him, basically flat-out annoying him. Cody, who was in no mood, just sat in a window seat next to Courtney and looked out the window.

The scene was truly beautiful. They had finished their challenge for the day and Team Amazon had won again. The sun was setting in the sky, turning it a mixture of all kinds of oranges, reds, and yellows. He tried to ignore a very small bird that had just got caught in the engine. At least it wasn't big enough to make the engines go out.

Sierra, who was in the seat in front of him, continued to talk. The uber-fan was completely oblivious to Cody's current mood. He looked at her, slightly glaring.

"Sierra, I'm really tired," he said. The stalker continued to look at him, as if that didn't matter. The only thing different was that she stopped talking and just gave Cody a creepy, lovesick smile. "Why don't you go update your blog?"

"Good idea!" she exclaimed, skipping off to her laptop.

Courtney looked at him curiously. He usually didn't try to get Sierra away from him anymore because he knew his efforts would be worthless, as she just kept coming back. She started to wonder if Cody was feeling okay, but figured that he really was tired.

Actually, Cody was exhausted. With the physical exhaustion of today's challenge (you'd be surprised how much you have to work to keep a giant pinball moving) and the mental exhaustion from thinking about Noah's confession to him a little while ago, you would be surprised at how tired he was.

And yet, as everyone else on the plane slowly fell asleep, Cody couldn't drift into dreamland. As much as he tried to, he just couldn't. But, he finally managed to.

…**NoCo…**

_Cody opened his eyes and saw that he was in the same closet he was in when Noah confessed his feeling for him. He also saw that he was not alone. With him was Noah. Cody tried to talk, but nothing came out of his mouth. Noah didn't say anything to him. He looked the same as when he had told Cody he liked him._

'_Am I supposed to re-live this again?' Cody thought to himself, since he couldn't speak. 'Why would I want to do that? I'm dreaming, right?'_

_His suspicions of this being a dream was confirmed when Cody saw himself, standing there and looking worriedly at Noah, who still wasn't speaking._

'_I guess I'm supposed to watch it,' mused Cody. He didn't think he would be able to, so he pinched himself. He felt no pain, but he wouldn't wake up. 'I can't watch.'_

"_I like you," he watched Noah say. Noah looked so nervous. So…scared._

"_What?" asked the Cody on the other side on the closet, obviously the dream Cody. "I like you, too, Noah. You're a really good friend. But, is that the only thing you wanted to tell me?"_

"_No, Cody," said Noah patiently, looking twice as nervous as before. "I _like_ you. In _that_ way."_

_Cody watched Noah bite his lip, looking shock. Cody watched his dream-self back into the door and reach for the knob. Noah looked panicked. Real-Cody almost collapsed at the sight, for it caused him great pain to watch._

"_Cody," said Noah, words quickly streaming out of him. "It's okay if you don't feel the same. I just thought you should-"_

_Cody winced as he saw himself close the door and expected to wake up. Except, he didn't wake up. Not fully understanding, he turned towards Noah and tried to apologize, only to be reminded that he couldn't speak. This was the end of the scene in Cody's point of view. Why was he still here?_

_Cody saw Noah shrink down onto the floor, holding his head in his hands. It pained Cody to watch, so he sat down next to Noah and stared at him. After a little while, a tear rolled down the bookworm's cheek._

_Cody was shocked at seeing the bookworm cry. He didn't think Noah was capable of crying. What this what happened after he left? A few tears cascaded down Cody's cheek as he watched what he did to his friend._

…**NoCo…**

Cody gasped as he was jolted awake. He tech-geek looked around, checking if anybody was awake. They didn't look disturb, so Cody figured they weren't up and closed his eyes again. But, he wouldn't fall asleep. He couldn't.

Cody sighed, got up from his seat, and started walking towards the commons area. Once there, he sat on one of the stools for a while, thinking. Maybe, if the situation with Noah was affecting him more than he thought, he did return Noah's feelings.

No, he couldn't like Noah like that. He couldn't love him. Cody's parents were strict Catholics and against homosexuals. They would never forgive him if he loved Noah. They would kick him out for sure. Then where would he go?

Cody jumped when he heard the door to the commons open. He tried to hide when he realized that it was Courtney. The CIT stood in the doorway for a second, scanning the room for Cody. Once she saw him hiding under a table, she walked over to him, her hands on her hips and her left foot tapping on the floor impatiently.

"You can come out, you know," she said. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything. Plus, that's a terrible hiding place."

Cody crawled out from under the table slowly, looking up at Courtney. She didn't look angry. In fact, she had on a blank face, showing no emotion at all. She sat on the table and patted the spot next to her. Cody gingerly sat down. Courtney sighed.

"What's the matter, Cody?" the former CIT said. "You've been upset all day and I couldn't help but notice."

"It's nothing, really," said the gap-toothed teenager. "I'm fine."

Courtney had never really interacted with Cody. Maybe talked to him a few times, but he never considered her a friend. Most of the time she was arguing with Gwen and Heather. Why was she helping him now?

"Look, Cody," said Courtney, sighing. "I know we're not close friends, but you're my teammate and I want to help."

Cody thought about it a little more. Courtney _was_ his teammate and she was worried about him. Telling somebody would most definitely help.

"Well," he started. "Noah told me earlier that he has…feelings for me."

"What did you say?" questioned Courtney, who, for some reason, didn't look shocked at all.

"I-I ran," Cody stuttered, his eye twitching at his stupidity. Courtney gasped lightly, and then face palmed herself.

"Why would you do that?" she asked sympathetically, crossing her arms.

"I panicked," Cody looked down, feeling ashamed of himself. "I didn't want to tell him that I didn't like him that way."

"Telling him that would have hurt him a lot less than running away," said the overachiever. "And, if it's bothering you this much, maybe you do have feelings for him. Maybe you like, or love, Noah back."

Cody shook his head quickly and said, "I can't love Noah. My parents are against that kind of stuff. Th-they'll kick me out a-and then I won't have anything!"

Courtney sighed yet again. "Do you know why Duncan and I got together?" Cody shook his head and wondered where Courtney was going with this. "Despite our arguing, he made me feel happy and relaxed. My parents didn't approve of him at all. The threatened that they would take all the money out of my college fund unless I broke up with him."

"Wow," said Cody, surprised that Courtney, someone who he didn't even consider a friend, was telling him all this.

"So," she said. "I did break up with him. I acted like a jerk so we could get in a fight and break up because didn't want to tell the real reason. I regret it so much, even if he was getting all buddy-buddy with Gwen."

She turned towards Cody. "How does Noah make you feel?"

"Well," said the geek. "He is always nice to me, even though he uses sarcasm. He makes me feel like I can do anything as long as he's by my side."

"Cody, I think you like Noah back," Courtney told him, smiling kindly.

"B-but," Cody stammered. "My parents, they don't-"

"Who cares what you're parents think," said Courtney a bit louder than necessary. They waited a minute in case anyone was woken up by the outburst. After nobody came, Courtney continued to talk. "If you love Noah, that's all that matters, nothing else. Your parents will get over it. Don't make the same mistake I did."

Cody stared at the former counselor in training for a moment, taking in everything that was said in the past few minutes. Then, a delighted smile slowly grew on his face. He threw his arms around her.

"Thank you," he mumbled. He realized what he was doing and figured he was going to get slapped. Much to Cody's surprise, Courtney hugged back for a few seconds before they let each other go.

They walked back to First Class together. Once they were both settled into their chairs on opposite sides of first class, Cody looked over to the former CIT. "Courtney?" he said.

"Yes, Cody?" she replied to the lovable dork.

"Is it okay if I consider you a friend now?" he asked, a smile still visible on his face.

"Of course," answered the overachiever. "Good night, Cody."

"Night, Court," Cody managed to get out before drifting off to sleep. After all, he needed to be refreshed for tomorrow…

…**NoCo…**

Cody peeked into the commons area from the door of First Class. Everyone was in the room, eating their, ahem, breakfast. He took a deep breath and got ready for what he was about to do. He watched Noah get up to place his plate in the sink for Chef to wash later. Cody took another deep breath and walked behind Noah for a moment before tapping him on the shoulder.

Noah turned around, his eyes widening slightly when he saw Cody. Everyone slowly turned their heads to face the two dorks.

"Noah," Cody started. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I was in shock. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"What-ever," said the bookworm. "You don't have to apologize. We could just pretend it never happened."

"That's the problem," Cody confessed, his face tinting a light shade of pink. "I don't want to."

Everyone was looking at them. They were either looking in confusion or in amusement. However, Courtney and Izzy watched them knowingly.

"Pity," Noah said accusingly. "You're saying this out of pity. I don't want your pity."

"Noah, a talk with a friend helped me realize I like you back," Cody replied truthfully.

"You told someone!" Noah hissed quietly. Neither of the boys noticed the silence around them. "Why would you do that, you moron?"

"The friend was worried about me," Cody whispered the egghead, though it was so silent everyone could hear them. If looks could kill, Sierra would have killed Noah by now.

"Wait, back it up," said Noah, realizing what Cody had said before. "You said you like me back."

Cody blushed and nodded, chuckling nervously. "Hehe, do you want me to prove it?"

Noah raised an eyebrow, confused. Then, he smirked knowingly. "Oh yeah, how are you going to do that?"

Cody grabbed Noah's shirt collar, brought him down to his height, and pressed his lips against the know-it-all's. They stayed like that until they heard a scream from behind them.

Everyone turned to see Sierra standing there, looking both angry and shocked. Then, her eyes rolled back and she fainted on the spot. Some people snickered at Sierra. Noah smirked at the body on the floor.

"Man," he said. "Stalker Bitch really knows how to be a drama queen."

This earned a few more snickers as Cody smiled at him. "You're such an ass sometimes."

Noah pressed his lips to Cody's again and put his arms around the smaller boy's waist. Cody wrapped his arms around Noah's neck as Izzy went over to Courtney for a high-five. Meanwhile, Chris was doing a victory dance.

"This should boost the ratings!" he said.

Everyone, sans Sierra, Noah, and Cody, else just rolled their eyes and looked back at the dorks.

"I love you," Cody whispered so that only Noah could hear. Then he flushed red.

Noah rolled his eyes at how red Cody was. "I love you, too."

"Well,' said Courtney from her seat. "I guess Noah and Cody got a happy ending."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Izzy. "And pissing off Sierra must be an awesome bonus!"

* * *

**I didn't know how to end this. I've been working on this for at least four days and it's finally done! I hope you all enjoyed it! The question is, did you enjoy it enough to review? Why don't you answer that yourself? ;)**


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